This past month, we embarked on our first family vacation as a family of 4! We have wanted to take Bella to the beach and decided that the younger Grace is, the easier it would actually be. And that proved to be quite true! Some may think us crazy for taking a 2 year old and a not even 6 month old baby on a vacation, but it was actually a wonderful vacation. We went to Clearwater Beach in Florida as that met our requirements of a beach and direct flight. :) Neither of us had been there before, but we will definitely be going back as it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL.
We left on a Wednesday morning and got to Clearwater in the early afternoon. Our flight there went perfect- Grace slept almost the entire way, and Bella played games on the ipad. :) When we got to the hotel, Bella was pumped to hit up the pool and the beach right away! Gracie was quite intrigued by her new surroundings!
We picked a hotel that had the beach directly on it, which was perfect. Bella could go back and forth between the pool and beach as she pleased! She wasn't too thrilled with the ocean however. The water was still pretty chilly, and the waves kind of freaked her out. But she adored the sand and pool.
Daddy and Bella spent lots of time the first afternoon exploring in the sand while Grace took a nap on Mommy.
And there she is up!
The next morning, we ate breakfast at our hotel before heading out to explore our surroundings.
Gracie took a little nap in the stroller- she is such a laidback little girl!
And Bella is crazy- dancing on the chairs. :)
We walked down to Pier 60, which is a pier where the marina is located along with other water activities and such. There was also a park that Bella played in for quite some time!
Always a fan of the big slides. :)
Once we got back to our hotel after the park, Bella of course wanted to go swimming in the pool!
We tested Grace in the pool as well, but she was not a fan. The water was probably around 80 degrees, but that is still a little too chilly for her. She is used to warm bathwater!
With two little girls, we of course had to have some down time in the room so they didn't get completely exhausted- particularly Bella! She was spoiled on vacation and got to play lots and lots of games on the ipad.
But some of her princesses made the trip with her, and they got played with as well. :)
Gracie practiced her new sitting skills on vacation and perfected them!
We all slept together in one room, which I was a little nervous about. But the website we did our booking through only had standard rooms available, and no suites were open when we got there. However, it actually went really well. We put Grace's crib in the bathroom, and she slept every night without a problem. Bella was a little more difficult, particularly the first night. She wanted to go sleep in her bed own. :) I slept with her so she wouldn't get scared in the night, but that did not go well at all as she was laying on top of me the whole time! The following nights went better, but she is a pretty noisy sleeper!
We had a beautiful view of the ocean and beach from our room.
Definitely didn't mind waking up to that every morning. :)
Mommy and Bella chilling out on the balcony.
That afternoon, we went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which is actually like a rescue aquarium. It is also home to Winter the dolphin, which is the dolphin with the mechanical tail. Bella loved seeing all the dolphins, although you can't tell by her expression in this picture. She wanted to touch them and was quite distraught by the fact that she couldn't. :) Well, at least not for free!
I think this dolphin was Winter- never knew for sure. :)
There were also turtles, fish, sea otters, sting rays, and a few other animals to see. You could touch the sting rays, but naturally Bella didn't want to touch those!
Gracie got carted around in the Moby wrap. :) Her favorite thing to do!
Giving the turtle a big hug!
Mommy and the girlies!
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